The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-05-06
No HOPES FOR THEN.
The British Columbia Mine Disaster -
Prom 30 to - Nen Imprisoned.


Prom 30 to - Nen Imprisoned.
| NANIAMo, Il. T.. Nav All day YES
| ter,lay gangs of men were engaged in
! strenuous effsSs To subdue the flames in
| NJ. l shaft of the Victoria Coal Com
| pany where the explosion occurred on
( Tuesday night. At o'clock this after
/ noon it was thought that they had the
| fire under control. The Meriweather
/ Steam Fire Engine did good work pump
I ing water from the harbOr down the
shaft, the hand fire engine having been
/ taken down the mine tu fight the fire
| from the level. Ii will b,. impossible to
make the attempt To get at the inn
prisoned men until the fire j. subdue,l.
I for by doing 81 it would drive the gas ON
the fire and cause "A second disaster.
There is but little hope of rescuing the
men alive. but an effort will Ie made AT
the first possible moment to reach the
imprisoned miners.
over one hall Of the. injured and inn
prisOned men have wives to mourn
their untim-ly end. Ii j. estimated that
there are between fifty and sevcnty-five
Cinnamon in the mine. jules Michael.
On, of the injured. stated that ht. was
sitting in hi, cabin at supper in No
shaft when lac felt the conctIssiUn. All
scrambled out. Only one OF his four
companions wd- s;rv,-,. The dead bod
ie, of the others came up in TIA" cage
with him.
Several "f rhes@ rescued hardly appre-
ciate their miraculous e-cap- owing to
the daze'l feeling which characterized all
who came ont from the deadly pit
Michael was only fifteen yards from the
entrance To- the shaft when tn. explosion
occurred. He represents IL ~ s"mrthing
terrific. ill h,-cam, darkn,-s
All day yesterday gangs of men were
endravoring tn eXtinguiSh the flames in
No. shaft ami th,. iire there i believed
now to be under control. Fear, are en-
tertaincd of a second explosion of gas
which might blow the whole place. up.
and old miners say that such a result Is
possible. Ii 81. tine catastrophe would
bt4 the greatest recorded ia the history of
coal mining.
mines has been long ago abandoned. 1t
Is thought that all man can do is being
dome To- reach them. Ii was at first sug-
geated to cut ditch To- salt water 80 a.
To attempt I" put out the fire i'm No ,
shaft by turning strain Of water into
II but the scheme was abandoned Ii
would only flood the mime rendering it
practically u~t-Is--- for Il year and would
Danish any hope there might b.. of say
ing the lives of the men.
ImlgincS th" SCENES. The. mines eN-
tend out from the shore. more. than a
mill. beneath the waters of the harbor
and as one hooks over In" placid waves
he cannot imagine that beneath are inn
prisoncd the many dead fathers and SONS
of eighty families of thi, little city.
Around tht. shaft tlr. sccn,.~ are harrow
ing in the extreme As each cage. comes
up anxious faces hook there for glad it'd
ings that never come and the hope that
there Is a prospect for the dear ones who
died at the post of duty il soon diSpelled.
LATER-The fire i'm the mines Is con-
siderably ahated \ dense volume of
steam arises from the air shaft and until
che fire Is completely subsided il will b,'
impossible To- enter the workings to ascer-
tain whether the unfortunate men shut
in there are living or dead. Fresh relays of
working parties are being brought from
Wellington and the ships in the harbor
have Also supplied about sixty men who
are working nohlv.